


A Pirate's Life For Me

by amberwoods



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, Pike Is Too Good For This World, Pike Would Die For Grog And Vice Versa, Pirate AU, Scanlan Is A Little Shit, Scanlan Would Die For Pike Within 5 Seconds Of Meeting Her, The Way God Intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-07-18 15:13:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16121141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberwoods/pseuds/amberwoods
Summary: Scanlan Shorthalt ends up in the small cell of a pirate ship with about 60% of a plan and an unexpected companion in Pike Trickfoot. Together, they devise a plan to escape their predicament. But Scanlan is keeping secrets, and Pike is quickly hammering away at his defenses.Neither of them will get what they were looking for, but so much more than they could have dreamed of.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! this idea has been floating through my head for about a week now. I have two chapters written and I'm guessing it'll be about 5 chapters long. I'll try to update every week! but bear with me, I'm a busy university student with a social life (mostly). I wasn't made for multi-chapter fics, but this just seemed to work better as one, so I'm giving it a shot! I hope you enjoy these shenanigans!
> 
> WARNING! game-technically most of this is utter bullshit. I'm making up the rules as I go. creative liberty and such.

He was thrown into the cellblock unceremoniously, tasting dirt as his face slammed into the wood of the brig. His head spun and the air was pushed out of his lungs. Part of him wanted to get up and knock someone’s fucking lights out, but he forced himself to remain on the floor.

“There ya go, lass,” the man who dragged him there snarled, “Fix him up, will ya?”

“Go fuck yourself,” another voice retorted immediately.

Scanlan looked up to assess who else is in the room with him, but as soon as he did a boot slammed into the back of his head and it whacked back against the wood.

“Get off!” the voice yelled, distraught, and the pirate behind him chuckled.

“Thought you might like a challenge.”

He tried to open his eyes again, but the entire room was swaying and his vision was blurry. His head pounded and he tasted iron and rust.

Someone grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him further into the cell.

“I’ll take him.”

The voice was close to his ears now, and he vaguely registered the way the person was holding him as protective. They were shielding him from more blows.

“Just go,” they told his captor, the voice bitter and angry.

The pirate just chuckled again and walked off, locking the door behind him.

Whoever was with him waited for the pirate’s boots to hit the deck above them before they carefully wiped his hair out of his face. Since in his disguised form his hair was shorter, it didn’t really help, but they got a clear look at his fake visage.

“Gods damn it,” his companion said, and then a warm glow rushed over him that was both familiar and strange to him.

He’d had his share of healing magic before, of course, but there was something different about this – something radiant. This person was using divine magic. He didn’t come across that, usually.

He groaned in relief as the pain in his head subsided and before long he felt confident enough to open his eyes. His gaze fell on someone who was definitely not what he had expected to find.

She was gnomish, for one, and absolutely gorgeous. Her stark-white hair was braided and wrapped up around her head like a crown, although she looked ragged, and small freckles dotted her face. Her eyes were clear blue and she was looking down at him with a look on her face that dangled between accusatory and worried.

“There you are,” she said, “What did you do to end up here, huh?”

Scanlan just laid on the floor, frozen, staring up at her with big eyes. He was half in her lap, with her hands on his neck and shoulders, and to his great surprise there was no place he would rather be at the moment than right there. This was already worth it.

“No matter. It probably wasn’t anything impressive, hm? It didn’t take much for _me_ to end up here.” The woman shook her head and pressed one of her hands against his forehead. “I’m Pike. I’ll get you back up in no time.”

 _Oh, he was sure of_ that _._

He bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything _stupid._ This was not the time to hit on the gorgeous lady.

“Thank you,” he croaked. He felt another pulse of warmth spread from her hand into his forehead and the last of his headache dissipated.

Anger flared in her eyes when she heard how weak he sounded and she glared up at the ceiling as though she could curse the crew from down here. Maybe she could. He knew nothing about clerics.

“One of these days I’ll _Guiding Bolt_ them up their butts,” she grumbled.

He groaned again and tried to sit up a little straighter, looking at her over his shoulder. “Why don’t you?”

Pike sighed wistfully, and almost absent-mindedly pushed against his shoulders again to force him back into her lap. She was _really_ strong for a gnome and the action turned him on _just a little_.

“Because of my brother,” she said.

She looked down and smiled at him, blatantly ignoring that she had just manhandled him. How had he managed to find such an angel?

“Although Grog would be _extremely_ proud if I died while taking on a ship full of pirates… He would also be extremely sad. I don’t…” A pained expression appeared on her face. “I can’t die here. I can’t do that to him.”

Fast as lightning, her eyes shifted back to anger and she glared up at the ceiling again. “So I’m _stuck_ here.”

“Well,” Scanlan said carefully, catching her attention enough for her to look back down at him. He sent her a hesitant smile, trying to stay in character. “So am I.”

She smiled back. “Yeah. I’m really sorry for you, but I’m happy for the company, I must say.”

He attempted to look around the room they were in without getting up again. He felt like that probably wouldn’t go too smoothly this time around either.

The cell was small and damp, and had only a few blankets in the corner, no bed, and a bedpan somewhere to the left. It was closed off with floor-to-ceiling bars that had been locked with something he didn’t think he’d be able to pick. Home sweet home.

“How long have you been here?” he asked as he reviewed their surroundings.

“A couple of weeks?” Pike answered, “I’m not sure, really. They don’t let me up, and I have nothing to mark the days with. I lost track.”

He looked back at her. “How’d you get here?”

She sighed again. “Do you know what an Extra Sail is?”

Scanlan repressed a smile and nodded. Of course he did – an Extra Sail was what sailors called the clerics that were brought onto large merchant vessels for long trips. They worked as a sort of medic and a guard simultaneously – healing when they must, fighting when they could. They were usually hired by the more savoury types of businessmen on the water.

“Well, I was one of those,” Pike said, “Until my ship was attacked a few weeks ago. They threw the captain overboard very quickly and from then on it was mayhem. They took everything and dumped my crew into the water. They only spared me because they figured they could use me.” She grumbled again. “I wish I could say that wasn’t true. But here I am, cleaning up their dirty work. No offense.”

“None taken,” he said. She looked troubled, staring off blankly into the distance for a moment, probably remembering her fallen companions. “What was your ship called?”

“The Broken Howl,” Pike muttered.

 _Ah_. He’d heard of that one. She was sturdy – or she had been. Word was that she’d been lost at see for over a month now. The timeline fit.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

She smiled at him again, putting on a brave face. “It’s okay. I’m just not sure what to do now.”

“Me neither. But Pike…” He attempted to get up again, and this time she let him. Her hand fell from his forehead, finally, and he grabbed it and looked at her intently. “You seem very trustworthy. You’re a victim here, like me. I trust you. So, I need to tell you a secret. You have to promise to keep it, okay?”

“O-okay,” she told him, her eyes wide.

Scanlan dropped his spell, revealing his own gnomish form to her – the long, brown ponytail, upturned nose, dark eyes, and slightly pointed ears.

Pike gasped, obviously surprised, and he scrambled to explain himself.

“I-I-I-I panicked! I didn’t know what to do! They just boarded the ship and plucked me from it, so I figured I’d pretend to be some rich halfling guy I know, and maybe they would let me live!”

“Oh, man…” Pike muttered, her eyes shooting up to the opening in the deck to make sure no one happened to come in just then.

“I know, I know,” he added quickly, “But I can’t drop it _now._ They’ll kill me!”

“They’ll also kill you once they realise you won’t get them any money!”

“It’s okay!” he said, “We’re still a ways out of the next port town. I’ll figure something out before then. Maybe we can escape!”

He squeezed her hand, hoping to convince her. Pike looked at him doubtfully, but she didn’t pull away. He was counting on her need for a friend in this time to save his ass. He hadn’t expected there to be another prisoner – these pirates were notorious for not keeping any.

“ _Fine_ ,” she said, “But we have to be careful! I told you, I’m not risking my brother’s sister.”

“What?”

“I’m not risking the life of the sister of my brother! Me! I won’t – I won’t risk that my brother’s sister dies. Who is me!”

“Yeah, yeah, I got that that the first time. The last part, that is. The rest makes zero sense to me.”

She sighed again. “Look. I would gladly give my life trying to escape from this ship. But I _won’t_ risk Grog having to mourn me. So we have to be careful.”

“Sure,” he affirmed emphatically, “I can be careful.”

“How often can you do that?” she asked.

“The disguise? A few times a day.”

“How long does it last?”

“Eight hours.”

She nodded. “That should do it.”

After that, she inspected him for a moment, her gaze swiping over him in a bit more detail. He hoped the worn-out, rugged look he had going on was doing it for her.

“Another gnome, huh?” she muttered. Her gaze landed on his eyes and they stared at each other for a few seconds. After they had passed, the smallest of blushes appeared on her cheek and _wow, he could die_ , _that sight was not for this world_.

“You should probably change back,” she whispered, and she pulled her hand away.

“Ah, yeah.” He muttered the incantation and quickly recast his disguise on himself, moving back into his halfling form.

Pike hesitated for a moment, but then she reached out and touched his ponytail, which was still there underneath the illusion. She dragged her fingers down it for a moment and Scanlan’s jaw went slack. He stared up at her unabashedly as she touched his hair. However, she suddenly seemed to realise what she was doing and pulled away again, moving a foot or so away from him.

“We’ll share the blankets,” she said, and that sure was music to his ears. Pike sent him a small smile. “I guess we’re roomies now. What’s your name?”

“Scanlan,” he said, before he could actively decide whether or not to use a false name.

“It’s nice to meet you, Scanlan. Let’s see how this goes.”

 _Oh yes,_ he thought, _let’s._

They spent the afternoon exchanging tidbits of information and just sitting around the space, going over what had happened that day in their heads. At some point, the guy who had thrown him in there returned with some disgusting food and basically threw it at them, spilling part of it over the floor of their cell.

They waited for him and his barking laughter to disappear from their space before starting to eat the rest of it. Pike cast a cantrip and the spilled food disappeared immediately. It explained why she didn’t smell like shit after being in this cell for so long, and he was extremely grateful at the prospect of being able to magically clean himself every day. He didn’t do well when he felt dirty. He was better than that.

At night, they huddled together under the blanket, big spoon and little spoon, and she was so matter-of-fact about it that he didn’t mistake it for any sort of invitation. She was a little cold, and her hands held onto a clasp on her collar tightly. He’d seen her touch it absent-mindedly throughout the day, but he hadn’t asked about it yet. He didn’t recognise the symbol.

He cleared his throat in the dark that had fallen over them and lightly touched her hand. “Is that from your god?”

“What? Oh.” She looked at the symbol in her hands. “Yes. From Sarenrae. The Everlight.”

“Have you been a follower of her for long or…?”

“All my life.” Pike shifted against him a little and he dropped his arm over her waist, trying to warm her up a little. She must be uncomfortable, feeling so cold. “My grandfather taught me about her. He’s… He’s a longtime follower of hers as well.”

“I don’t really know much about her,” he admitted.

“Few people do. But she’s amazing. Kind, and strong, and powerful. She’s kept me safe a million times.”

“She’s not doing a great job right now, though.”

He could smack himself for saying anything. However, Pike seemed unbothered.

“I don’t know,” she said, “ _You_ showed up.”

He let out a mirthless chuckle. “I’m not sure I’ll be of much use to you.”

“Most people underestimate how strong people are when they work together,” Pike just said, “But I don’t. If we want the same thing, we’ll work something out. I haven’t given up yet.”

“You really haven’t, have you?”

He was a little awed by it, to be honest. Even after weeks stuck in this tiny cell on her own with nothing but a bedpan and a blanket, Pike still seemed strong and unbroken. She had an undeniable air of _hope_ around her, but it didn’t seem small and weak like it did in most people he faced – instead, it was like a beacon, a burning flame that kept her fed and well-kept, ready for whatever life would throw at her next. It was admirable, really.

And, possibly, useful.

“Well, I could use some strength,” he sighed. His lips curled up into a mischievous smile. “Maybe I should pray to your Sarenrae.”

She ignored that he clearly wasn’t serious. “Maybe you should. She might like you.”

“I doubt that,” he snorted.

“Why’s that? You seem pretty agreeable to me.”

“Well, you’ve only known me for a few hours, darling.”

The endearment slipped out of his mouth without his consent, and he noticed that a bit of his sailor’s accent had come through as well. He had to be careful with this lady, or he would end up telling everyone exactly who he was.

“You might change your mind,” he added quickly in his usual voice.

Pike yawned in his arms and something warm spread through his chest for a moment.

“We’ll see,” she said, “Looks like I’ll be seeing a lot of you.”

“Looks like,” he affirmed. But Pike had already fallen asleep.

Scanlan stayed up for a little longer, holding her against him. The next few weeks he’d be walking on eggshells. He had to find the best way to refrain from antagonising anyone on this ship – not the pirates, not Pike. He pondered for a while longer, trying to figure out how to do what he had come here to do without putting Pike in danger.

She murmured something in her sleep, and Scanlan reached up to idly wipe a strand of her white hair from her face. It was a peculiar colour – he’d have to ask her about that sometime.

It had been a long time since he had just slept with someone like this. It was comforting and unsettling at the same time, and it caused a whole array of thoughts and plans to shoot through his head at the same time.

_He had to seduce her. He had to get rid of her. He had to protect her. He had to help her escape. He had to keep her with him._

He tried to focus on how to go through with his plan from tomorrow on, but he kept being assaulted by thoughts of the gnome in his arms, and eventually he gave up entirely and drifted up to sleep.

Right as he closed his eyes, there was a spark of light that he barely caught. But before he could see that it was the symbol of Sarenrae that was glowing, he had passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 has arrived! I hope you guys like it! I am really in awe of all of your lovely comments, thank you so much for those!

Since he was so distracted that night, he spent most of the next morning as well trying to figure out how to proceed. He had no idea at what time they’d woken up, since his biological clock had been a mess since he started drinking at 16, but he figured it was around mid-day when he finally settled on a plan.

Time to share.

He looked over at Pike, who was fiddling with her symbol of Sarenrae. She had a frown on her face that hadn’t been there a moment before, and Scanlan was momentarily distracted by the change.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Huh?” Pike looked up.

“You look constipated.”

She laughed and then glanced up quickly, as if she was afraid the pirates might hear her.

“I’m fine,” she then said, “I’m just contemplating.”

“Contemplating what?”

“Sending a message.”

Scanlan perked up. “You can do that?”

She nodded. “To people I know, yes.”

Oh. Well, that made sense.

“So you can call for help,” he said.

“Theoretically.”

She frowned again and he was starting to see what was going on.

“But you haven’t,” he continued.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

Pike, who had looked the tiniest bit scared for his reaction, looked at him in surprise at his calm response. He assumed she had a good reason for it, and he could tell she wasn’t sure how she’d earned that trust from him. But, really, he knew he had only known Pike for a day, but if there was one thing that was clear it’s that she wasn’t stupid. She _had_ to have a reason.

“My brother again,” she said.

Scanlan smiled. “That man keeps showing up.”

She returned his smile. “That he does.” She sighed. “The thing is, I _could_ send him a message. I could say ‘hey Grog, I’m stuck in the bowels of a pirate ship, say hi to papa Wilhand!’ But then what? I don’t know where we are. I don’t know who _they_ are.” She gestured at the deck above them. “What could I tell him? Nothing. And you don’t know Grog – he would do anything to come find me immediately. He’d get in trouble, and he would probably murder a bunch of people who don’t deserve it.” She shook her head. “I’ll let him know when I actually have something to tell him. I told him I was alive, of course. Him and Wilhand. They know I’m safe, somewhere.” Pike looked around the small cell. “Safe-ish.”

Scanlan nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Yes. But I go over that again every day. Wondering if I shouldn’t just…” Her voice drifted off and the frown returned.

“Hey,” Scanlan said softly.

Pike looked back up at his face with an open, vulnerable expression. It made him feel weird. He had people around him who trusted him usually, of course, but not like this. They trusted him because they knew him, they trusted his skills, they trusted he wouldn’t turn on them in the blink of an eye, but they didn’t… They didn’t trust him personally. Not like this.

Against his will, he felt like Pike was filling some kind of small void in his life. That was dangerous.

“We’ll get you out of here,” he told her. He walked up to her and sat down next to her on the blankets. “Actually…”

“What?”

“I might have an idea.”

Pike’s expression brightened at that, and once again Scanlan was awed by how comfortable she was with hope – how she didn’t try to smash it down as soon as it reared its head to prevent herself from running the risk of disappointment. She just went with it, radiating it, giving herself over to it.

He tried to remember whether he’d ever seen anyone as beautiful as Pike full of hope.

“I have some magic,” he finally uttered, “And there is this… spell. A glyph, really. It’s really powerful. If I imbed it in the ship, it works as a sort of group charm. Once it’s activated, it will charm everyone in a two hundred foot radius for as long as I manage to keep concentrating and the glyph isn’t disturbed. We could make them put us on shore.”

Pike’s eyes were wide. “You can do that?”

“I can. But it’ll take a long time.”

“How long?”

“Two weeks.”

“Wow.” She blinked. “That _is_ long.”

“Yes,” he nodded, “And we’ll have to somehow keep it a secret for those two weeks. I can only do this once. If we’re disturbed, we’re fucked.”

“Right.” Pike nodded emphatically.

“I thought maybe we could use the blankets,” Scanlan continued, “If we drape them over the glyph ever time I need to take a break or sleep, we should be able to keep it hidden.”

“Yeah, that sounds like it should work.” Pike shook her head. “I can’t believe you can do something like that. You must be really powerful.”

Scanlan shrugged. “Really powerful people can do it quicker, I think. I’m just glad I know how to do it.”

“How _do_ you know?”

“I read a lot.”

Pike arched an eyebrow at him.

Scanlan chuckled at the sight. “Yeah, you didn’t think I might, did you?”

“Not really,” she admitted.

He got serious again. “There’s one more thing.”

Pike sobered up as well. “Oh no. What is it?”

“My magic… It’s not like yours. I need sound. To channel it.”

“You’re a bard?”

“Yup.”

“That’s really cool. But… I see how that could be a problem in this case.”

If the pirates heard him playing music, they would definitely try to put a stop to it. Especially if it went on for hours every day.

“I have to be really quiet about it,” he told her, “But I’ll be very focused, so you have to keep an eye out, yeah? Stop me when someone approaches.”

Pike nodded. “I can do that.”

Scanlan sat back for a moment. He had expected that he would have to convince her that he was even able to do this. But she just… bought it. It made him feel a little bad. But, well, he was still getting her out. So he wasn’t doing anything _too_ bad, he supposed.

Pike looked at him curiously. “You want to get started now?”

“Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

He got off the blankets, and Pike followed. They pulled them to the side and Scanlan sat down on the wooden floor, trying to focus. He flicked his wrist and a small pan flute appeared in his hand.

Pike startled. “How did you do that?”

“It’s a pocket dimension,” he told her. He flicked his wrist again and the flute disappeared.

“Wow.” She smiled. “What else do you have in there?”

He looked her straight in the eye. “Weapons.”

She sat down on the floor as well, apparently unperturbed by that declaration. “What kind?”

“A sword. Crossbow. Small hammer. A dagger too, I think.”

She nodded. “That’s a lot.”

“You good with weapons?”

Pike grinned at him. “Scanlan. I’m a war cleric. Weapons are my jam.”

Before Scanlan could get too turned on from the power in her eyes, Pike’s eyes crinkled and she sent out a burst of laughter.

“Oh wow. Get it?” she said, “My jam? Because you’re a bard?” She laughed again. “I didn’t even do that on purpose.”

And, sure, he wasn’t getting turned on anymore, but the sight of a giggling Pike did some other things to Scanlan’s head that he was definitely not prepared for.

He managed a grin, feeling slightly light-headed. “Funny.”

Pike nodded. “I’m hilarious.”

“Well,” he said, “If you need a weapon, just let me know. I’ll keep them on me for now. They’re well-hidden there.”

“Yeah, we don’t want anyone to find weapons we’re not supposed to have. They might want to keep us alive, but they’re not exactly opposed to roughing us up, in my experience.”

Scanlan went a little cold at that. “They’ve hurt you?”

Pike shrugged. “A little. I’m strong.”

For a moment, Scanlan saw nothing but red. He wanted to get up and go slaughter these assholes. He wanted to tear through them one by one and blow up this entire fucking ship when he was done.

Then, suddenly, Pike touched his face.

“Hey,” she said softly, pulling him back to the present, “It’s okay. They’ll get what they deserve at some point.”

He would make fucking sure of that, yeah.

But she did calm him down a little, and he nodded tersely.

Pike smiled at him and pulled away, sitting back down and looking at him expectantly. “Well?”

Scanlan took a deep breath to overcome the last of his fury and focused on his magic again. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was a powerful spell – he had to concentrate, and even then it would be exhausting.

He pulled out his pan flute again and held it in his hands as he started muttering the incantation. Slowly, the soft sway of the spell took him over and turned into music, until he was singing quietly to himself in the small cell. He glanced over at Pike, who was watching him, enraptured, and then he closed his eyes.

The music stayed soft, somehow, even when he could feel the magic taking hold and he started drawing out the glyph on the floor. It would be around five foot by five foot, and casting it mostly consisted of drawing the same lines over and over again while singing the incantation at it and using an instrument as a spellcasting focus. When his throat started to ache and his voice started croaking, he turned to his flute and channeled the magic through there, playing soft notes while he drew on the wood with one hand. It took hours before the lines started to become the least bit visible on the floor – a faint, flickering glow that signified the start of the glyph.

The whole time, Pike divided her attention between watching Scanlan and watching the door, waiting for the inevitable to come and interrupt them. At some point, Scanlan’s music almost lulled her asleep, but she managed to keep herself awake and alert enough to notice when someone started approaching the hatch to their little cubby in the ship.

Quickly, she tugged Scanlan’s arm that was holding the flute away from his face, and Scanlan stopped mid-incantation, the lines on the floor becoming invisible again. He looked dazed.

“Someone’s coming,” she told him hurriedly.

Scanlan just nodded sluggishly. There were bags underneath his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“ _The flute_ ,” Pike urged.

Scanlan managed to flick his wrist and make the small instrument disappear just as their pirate friend started descending the stairs. He had their one meal of the day in his hands. Scanlan was really glad that his disguise didn’t disappear while he cast a spell, because he wasn’t sure he could have mustered enough energy to fix himself up at the moment. He felt like he could fall over any moment.

Pike must have noticed, because she hurried over to him and wrapped her arm around his waist, letting him lean against her so he stayed upright.

“Don’t fall,” she whispered, obviously worried. She didn’t look away from him, instead inspecting his face for invisible injuries, even as the footsteps approached their cell and stopped in front of it.

The pirate snickered. “Am I interrupting?”

“Always,” Pike told him without looking away from Scanlan.

“Maybe I should just sit back and watch,” the man taunted.

“Watch our staring contest?” Scanlan said, without looking up either, “You’re welcome to.”

The pirate snorted and dropped their one meal of the day into the cell through the bars. “Food.”

“Much obliged,” Scanlan said. Pike was trying to repress a giggle.

The pirate was clearly disturbed by their lack of fear or even interest in him, so he stomped away without saying another thing. As soon as he was gone, Scanlan dropped his head onto Pike’s shoulder. She grabbed his arms quickly and positioned him in front of her so he could lean against her fully. He took full advantage of it – he was exhausted, and she was very soft.

Pike brushed his hair out of his face again, this time paying attention to get the hair that wasn’t visible because of his illusion as well. She smelled nice. But since she’d been in this ship for weeks, that _had_ to be his imagination. Was he that tired?

“I could take a nap,” he mumbled into her shoulder.

Pike laughed softly. “I got that idea, yeah. Maybe you should.”

“M’be.”

“Come on.”

Pike let go of him for a moment to drag the blankets back over the spot where he’d started making the glyph and then took his hand to guide him onto it. He huddled up against her and made a protesting noise when she started to move away.

“What is it?” she asked him, her voice soft and gentle.

“C’n you stay? Y’re soft. ‘nd warm.”

“Alright.”

This time, Pike was the big spoon. She wrapped herself around him, and Scanlan let out a content sigh. Even though their sleeping arrangements were incredibly uncomfortable, he still felt himself drifting off to sleep – but not before hearing Pike start to softly sing to him, a gnomish lullaby that he remembered vaguely from a long, long time ago. And it must have been because he was so tired, but at the sound of it, he started to cry very quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for chiming in again, guys! I am so happy to see all your reactions and even a little fanart sketch!! Check it out! http://lafontastic.tumblr.com/post/179134661463/a-sketch-from-chauntean-s-pikelan-fic-a
> 
> I didn't get to update last week because I spent the whole weekend freaking out over losing my keys in a bus, but here's another chapter for you guys! It's VERY dialogue-heavy, so bear with me!

Pike woke him up a couple of hours later so he would still be able to sleep that night. Scanlan was as groggy as he came after a few-hour long nap in the middle of the evening. His head ached like a fucker and he immediately said as much.

Pike shook her head with a smile on her face and reached out to stroke his head a few times. As she did, the rush of power came over him again and the headache subsided. He sighed in relief.

“Thanks. There’s nothing I hate more than headaches.”

“Nothing?”

“Almost nothing.”

“Well, you’re welcome.”

For a while, they just went about their business separately. Pike was frowning and staring at her symbol of Sarenrae again, and Scanlan fiddled with his pan flute for a bit. He wasn’t trying to get some more work done on the glyph – that would be extremely bad for his health, and he knew it. Even if he had a resident cleric at hand, too much magic wasn’t something to play around with in his experience.

Eventually, in the middle of doing nothing, Pike started humming that tune again. She had part of the blankets in her lap and was pulling at a thread on it, as if she couldn’t stop herself. Scanlan froze in his tracks.

His movement must have been abrupt, because Pike looked up at him immediately and stopped humming. “Scanlan?”

“I’m fine,” he told her, “It’s just… What song is that?”

“Ah.” Pike thought about that for a moment. “I’m not sure, actually. Papa Wilhand used to sing it to me. You reminded me of it.”

“I did?”

She nodded. “I don’t know why. It’s not like your arcane magic is in gnomish.” She looked up at him. “Do you know it as well?”

“Vaguely…”

His voice drifted off and he caught himself, looking back up at her. She had her head tilted a little, and was looking at him curiously.

He tried for a grin. “It’s been a long time since I heard that kind of song.”

The spark of curiosity in her eyes brightened. “How old are you?”

He tutted. “Now, now, never ask a gnome his age.”

She laughed. “Fine, then. Did your parents sing it to you?”

Scanlan turned away from her a little so she couldn’t see his face. “My mom,” he said casually.

“Ah,” Pike said.

She sounded so understanding that he was momentarily annoyed.

“What?” he snapped.

“Nothing.”

Pike hesitated for a moment. “What was her name?”

Scanlan stared at the wood in front of him, felt the swaying of the ship on the calm waves, listened to the creaking of the ship.

“Juniper,” he then said.

“Pretty name,” Pike responded quietly.

Scanlan looked at her again. He shouldn’t have snapped at her.

“What’s your mother’s name?” he asked.

“Maxime.”

“Good name as well.”

Pike snorted.

He arched an eyebrow at her, and she blushed lightly when she saw.

“It’s just,” she stammered, “My mom… Well, we didn’t keep in touch.”

“How so?”

“She’s not a good person. Not that my _dad_ is a good person… Really, there’s probably a grand total of two good people in my family. Wilhand and Grog.”

“Wilhand isn’t your father?”

She shook her head. “He’s my great-great-grandfather. And Grog is adopted. Sort of.”

“Wow.” Scanlan leaned back against the wall. “And what about the rest of them?”

Pike shrugged her shoulders. “They’re off somewhere or other. Cheating people out of their purses.”

“Charlatans?”

“That’s one word for it. It’s how I got my name.”

“Pike?”

She looked at him weirdly for a moment. “What? Oh! No. My last name. Trickfoot.”

“Trickfoot,” he muttered. Didn’t sound familiar.

He nodded slowly. Not the best part of her life, then. That made sense. Pike didn’t seem like the charlatan type.

“At least they’re not pirates,” he joked, before he could stop himself.

Pike nodded. “That’s true. Not like these bastards.” She glared at the ceiling once more.

Scanlan was quiet for a moment. He flicked his wrist a few times, making his flute appear and disappear. He kept his eyes on the familiar carved wood, the tiny flowery swirls that Keyleth had added to it when she made it for him.

“Have you dealt with pirates much?” he asked.

Pike shook her head. “No. Just once or twice. We usually fought them off pretty easily. They’re not _that_ powerful, usually.”

He smiled a little at that. “Not compared to Pike the War Cleric.”

“Exactly.” She smiled at him. “Have you come across pirates before?”

“Sure,” he said, “But… I don’t know, they can be very different from each other.”

Pike nodded contemplatively at that. “That’s true. Some pirates don’t even attack merchant’s vessels.”

“True. They keep to the crown’s ships.” A tiny smile formed around his lips. “Or other pirates.”

“Now _that_ sounds like fun,” Pike said.

Scanlan almost dropped his flute mid-wrist flick, but he managed to keep control of his magic. “You think so?”

Pike hummed emphatically. “Paying guys like these back? You can’t say that’s not tempting.”

“Oh, no, I _agree_. I guess I just wasn’t sure you would. I mean, there’s privateers who do the same thing without being outlaws.”

She nodded again. “Sure. But…” She hesitated for a moment, but then seemed to catch herself. They were in the belly of a pirate’s ship: the only person who could hear what she was saying was Scanlan. She looked him over for a moment, frowning a little, as if trying to gauge what his reaction would be.

“The people in charge…” she said finally, “They’re not always the smartest.”

“True.”

“And, well…” She pursed her lips. “I’m not the person for politics. _At all_. But if I would get my hands on all the money pirates have stolen for the crown and distribute it amongst the people of Tal’Dorei _myself_ … Well, there’s a lot of good that can be done with that kind of money, you know? Privateers… They have to just hand everything back over to the same people who lost it.”

Scanlan frowned a little and thought that over. “I hadn’t really considered that,” he muttered, “That could be really interesting.”

“Right? I feel like… I don’t know, you can do the right thing without being _legal_ per se. Or even in charge. If you have enough balls, and enough heart, you can change the world for the better without getting caught up in endless rules and paperwork.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot,” he stated, sounding a little surprise.

Another one of Pike’s little blushes appeared on her cheeks. They were quickly becoming his favourite thing in the world.

“Well, I had a few weeks of down-time,” she said.

As if that thought triggered another, she immediately started frowning again.

“There he is again.”

She looked up at him. “What?”

“You’re thinking about your brother.”

She blinked. “How did you know?”

He moved up to her and pressed his finger onto her forehead, right where it crinkled when she frowned. “You have a tell,” he told her with a teasing smile.

Pike swatted his hand away in embarrassment. “You’re perceptive,” she mumbled.

Scanlan sat back and sent her a smug grin. “Quite.”

She shook her head at him again, but there wasn’t anything disapproving about it.

“What were you thinking now?” he asked, and he nudged her gently.

Pike sighed. “Just… I _really_ miss Grog.”

Scanlan nodded. “That makes sense. I mean, I don’t have any siblings, but… Well. I have some people who come close, I guess. I guess I miss them too. A little.”

Pike got very quiet for a moment and when he looked up at her, she was staring at the floor, one hand clasped tightly around her holy symbol. “Were they on the ship with you?”

Oh. She thought they were…

“No,” he assured her, “No, I took this trip alone. I was on my way back to them.”

Visible relief overtook her expression. “Good.” Her gaze turned quizzical. “What kind of trip were you taking anyway?”

“Oh, just… boring stuff.” Scanlan fumbled for words, trying to find something. And since they had just talked about her family, to his greatest surprise the thing that came out eventually was: “I visited my mother’s grave site for the anniversary of her death. We lived in Wildemount.”

Pike startled and looked at him wide-eyed. “Oh, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t be.” He smiled at her, feeling mildly guilty. “It was a long time ago.”

She hesitated. “What happened?”

Why had he brought this up?

Still, even though usually the topic of his mother made him clam up and leave as soon as possible, he found that he was actually pretty comfortable with telling Pike. Especially with the way she was sitting beside him, looking up at him with eyes that were endlessly gentle.

“There was a goblin invasion of our village.” His voice stayed soft, as if he was relaying bad news to her. “She didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry, Scanlan.”

He attempted another smile. “Like I said, it’s been a long time. I’ve made my peace with it.”

“Have you?”

This time, Scanlan was the one who startled. He stared at her, and Pike stared straight back at him. He wondered how she could go from gentle to not-taking-emotional-prisoners in such a short amount of time.

Pike gave him time to reboot his brain, and when he did, he frowned. “Well. Maybe not. It’s hard to make your peace with something like that, I guess.”

‘”Definitely,” Pike nodded, “I would even say almost impossible.”

Scanlan nodded slowly as well. “Well, that’s an insight into myself I hadn’t had before.”

Pike laughed. “Look at me casually changing your life.”

He looked at her. “Yeah,” he said softly, “Look at you.”

Pike’s brain had already moved on, and she looked off into the distance. “I almost lost Wilhand to a sort of invasion, you know. But he made it. I can’t believe how lucky I am sometimes.”

She seemed startled by her own words and looked back at Scanlan. “Oh shit, was that super insensitive?”

Scanlan smiled at her. “No. I’m glad you got that chance. Goblins too?”

“Goliaths. But one of them stood up against the others and saved him.” A wide smile appeared on her face. “Grog.”

“Your brother is a _goliath?_ ”

“Adopted,” Pike clarified again quickly.

“ _Still._ ”

He’d never worked with a goliath before. Could be real interesting. They definitely had their uses.

“What a peculiar family unit,” he said with a half-smile playing around his lips, “Ancient gnome. Gorgeous gnome. Towering goliath.”

Pike laughed again, but she was blushing as well. “It’s interesting, that’s for sure. What’s your family like? If you count those people you talked about before as siblings, that is.”

“Oh, well… Also varied, I suppose. A couple of half-elves. A human.”

Pike nodded understandingly. “Tall people.”

Scanlan laughed and nudged her. “Yeah, you have no idea how nice it is to talk to someone who’s on my level for once.”

“It makes you forget you’re small, doesn’t it?”

He grinned. “Sure does. Although I refuse that let my stature limit me in life.”

“Very admirable.”

“Well, you must understand, miss war cleric.”

“Fair enough,” she laughed.

He had to say, he really hadn’t expected his time aboard this ship to be quite this… pleasant. He was enjoying himself.

And as if Pike could read his mind, she said: “I know it’s mean, but I’m really glad you showed up, Scanlan.”

He smiled and shook his head at her. “No, no, I get it.”

Scanlan laid back on the one blanket they shared at night, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. He was starting to get sleepy again – this glyph really took its toll on him.

“It’s been a long time since I made a friend,” he said.

Pike chuckled. “I can’t say the same. But I don’t think I had a friend like you before.”

The two of them looked at each other and then laughed a little. Pike came towards him and laid down beside him on the blanket.

“This whole situation is ridiculous,” she sighed.

“Tell me about it.”

She sighed once more. “We should go to sleep. If we wake up early there’s less chance that they’ll catch us while you’re making the circle.”

Scanlan nodded. “Yeah. And I’m ready to doze off again anyway.”

“Should I wake you up?”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best. If I’m a bitch in the morning, I’m sorry. Not a morning person.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

She huddled up closer to him, laying her head on his chest. Scanlan brought down one of his arms so he could rest his hand on her shoulder. It wasn’t any less strange than the night before, laying here with her like this. It was still sort of miraculous, and it made him feel warm.

On the cold floor of the darkened ship, that was all he really needed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, you all thought I had abandoned my lovelies in the belly of a pirate ship. But I always intended to finish this fic and I still believe I will do it! Just at a slower pace than I originally intended ;) I worked through a plot point that I couldn't figure out and now you guys may have another look at Scanlan and Pike bonding.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for all the comments, they really inspire me!

The next few weeks turned into a comfortable routine. They woke up whenever was convenient – usually to the sound (or sensation) of food being thrown into their cell. Then Pike cleaned them up, they had something to eat and Scanlan continued the glyph while Pike stood on look-out.

The longer their little charade lasted, the more attentive Pike had to be. Although they took care to be quiet and inconspicuous, it seemed that the pirates had caught on something was going on belowdecks. They started checking up on the prisoners more often, and more irregularly, as if trying to catch them in the act. One pirate in particular was always on their tail, stomping down at the most inconvenient moments and sometimes waking them up at night to surprise the secret out of them. He became visibly more frustrated as the days passed, but he could never catch them.

Meanwhile, the glyph was steadily growing more powerful under Scanlan’s hands. After a week of working on it, Pike started to see a soft glow emanating from the floor at all times. It was faint enough not to be noticeable to anyone who didn’t know to look for it, but it was still there. The light reminded her of her own magic, but it still felt different – the arcane arts were definitely something else.

She’d never really understood the arcane. All of her magic was divine – even the spells that arcane casters could master as well. Once, she and a friend of hers, Allura, had put their magics beside each other and checked for differences when casting the same spells. It was subtle, and non-magic users probably wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, but to them it was a marvellous sort of game. Watching Scanlan sometimes made her want to spell the ship as well, just to see what it would look like.

But she saved her spells for healing, in case their friends on the upper deck decided to kick their secrets out of them. She was glad that _Prestidigitation_ didn’t cost her any energy – if they would have had to live in the dirt, she wasn’t sure she could have kept her cool. For Scanlan, _Prestidigitation_ seemed to be sort of luxurious. He revelled in the cleanliness, and it made her wonder what kind of conditions he was used to living in. And why’d never thought to learn the cantrip himself. Then again, cantrips were the first thing a caster learned – his life might have been very different when he learned how to cast those spells.

As it was, each morning, Scanlan waited patiently for her to clean up their meagre chamber pot, the floor of their cell, their faces, their hair. Although most of him was obscured behind a veil of illusion, Pike took her time to seek out what was really him and keep him clean. His illusion never looked anything but a little scruffy, but Scanlan had no scruples telling her that the rest of him was a different story.

He was very particular about his hair, she realised early on. Every morning he’d grumble about knots and tangles and run his hands through hair she could not see. She learned to sit him down and untie his ponytail. She learned how quiet Scanlan became when she sat behind him on her knees, gently combing her fingers though his hair, casting _Prestidigitation_ while she brushed out the knots and snarls. During these moments, Scanlan was putty in her hands.

She hadn’t been able to put her finger on what age Scanlan was probably at, but at these moments she felt like she could almost zone in on it – she almost knew how young he still was. Just a big child, really. Just like her.

After they’d gone through these motions, they dragged the blanket away from the glyph and got into position. Pike usually stood to the side of the cell’s door, her eyes on the hatch that led up to the deck. Scanlan sat with his back to her, leaned over the lines and traces on the floor. He took out his flute and, softly, began to play.

After over a week of listening to his music, Pike had started to pick up on certain patterns and themes. He liked throwing in a high note at an unexpected moment, and playing around with the steady beat – or maybe that was just what the spell needed. She wasn’t sure how bardic magic worked, and for some reason she didn’t think to ask him. She just watched, and listened, and tried to figure it out on her own.

Every time he finished a full tracing of the glyph, there was a moment where Pike could hear more than just a flute. It was different every time – sometimes a soft drum, sometimes a harp, sometimes a violin. She looked forward to those moments, when Scanlan momentarily became an entire orchestra, and the cell felt like it was full of people. When she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine they weren’t on the ship anymore, but at an inn, somewhere, or at a theatre even.

That was her favourite dream. When the music hit, she would close her eyes and see musicians on a stage, bent over their work, enrapturing her, and she would look beside her and find Scanlan sitting there, smiling at her. Sometimes the image bled into her real dreams, at night. Those days she woke up feeling like she was going to choke on want – wanting to be out of here; wanting this to be over.

And thankfulness, for Scanlan’s arrival. For his arm, heavy around her waist, or his back, solid against her chest. Thankful that she wasn’t alone.

Those days, she vowed to herself that whatever may happen on this ship, she would protect him. After a long week of working on the glyph, he sure looked like he needed it.

Scanlan made sure to keep his illusion impeccable, never letting her see underneath again. He recharged it before it ran out, and smiled at her when she asked about it. But Pike could feel what he was hiding.

Pallid skin. Thinning hair. Bloodshot eyes. If she looked very closely, she could almost see it. This spell wasn’t easy on him. She was worried he was overextending himself – using a spell that was _just_ out of his reach. She didn’t want to think about what that could mean for him in the long run. So, instead, she quietly cast _Lesser Restoration_ on him after he fell asleep, and hoped it would do.

But no matter how tired Scanlan became, there was one thing that he never failed at – steering the pirates away from the truth.

Ten days after Scanlan started the glyph, they had their closest call yet. Coincidentally, Scanlan had stopped chanting early because he could no longer work through the pain of his cramping fingers. They were sitting in the middle of the cell. Pike was trying to rub some warmth into Scanlan’s hands, and he kept wincing, his fingers refusing to do anything but curl in on themselves. He tried to brush it off with a smile, but she could see a sheen of tears in his eyes and his jaw was tense from how hard he was grinding his teeth together.

This time, their pirate friend was trying to be stealthy, and for some godsforsaken reason he succeeded. He crept up on them slowly, until suddenly he was at the bars to their cell, staring down at them on the floor. Immediately, Pike realised their mistake. With Scanlan’s pain, and her own hurry to rectify it, they had failed to pull the blanket over the glyph completely – part of it was still exposed, and although it wasn’t glowing, it was right there. Almost impossible to miss.

Pike felt her heart stop. She could only imagine how panicked she looked when she locked eyes with Scanlan and froze in her tracks. She knew that acting nervous would only give them away faster, but she could _feel_ the danger in the air, and she was terrified that they would be discovered. Scanlan had said that if they failed the glyph, there was no second try – and as soon as the pirates found out that Scanlan didn’t have a ransom pay waiting for him, they would throw him overboard faster than she could say _Prestidigitation_. She had no way of protecting him from that. Besides, who knew what they might do to them if they found out they were casting magic. There might not be a second chance for _anything_.

Scanlan noticed the panic in her eyes, but she could tell from the puzzled look on his face that he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, and Pike refused to give them away by glancing at the glyph again. But while they wordlessly trying to communicate – and failing miserably – their pirate friend was looking around their cell.

Pike could _feel_ the moment he saw the  glyph. She could hear it in the small gasp he let out, see it in the smug smile that appeared on his face instantly.

“Well, well, well,” he said, “What do we have here hm? What have you two roaches been up to?”

Scanlan followed the pirate’s gaze to the floor, while Pike closed her eyes in defeat. She felt so exhausted all of a sudden. She didn’t know what to do.

She didn’t see the incredulous expression Scanlan mustered when the pirate looked back at them.

Scanlan arched an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

Pike opened an eye in surprise and watched how confusion hit the pirate at Scanlan’s confidence and, frankly, his tone of voice; as though the answer was _so obvious_.

Scanlan took advantage of the pirate’s momentary imbalance to scoff at him. “Are you kidding me? Do you know _nothing_ about clerics? You’ve been living on the same ship as one for the past _month_.”

“Shut up,” the pirate snapped, but he couldn’t fake away the faint blush dusting his cheeks.

Scanlan rolled his eyes. “Let me _enlighten_ you, my friend. A cleric is a magic user who follows a god. They have divine magic. And when the cleric sleeps, their god protects them with magic. Enough clues?”

Pike was looking at him slack-jawed. The pirate, meanwhile, sputtered something unintelligible and shifted on his feet uncomfortably.

Scanlan looked positively scandalised by this much ignorance. “It’s the cleric’s _sleeping reliquary,_ you dipshit. The sign that appears where they sleep? To protect their unconscious bodies? By the hells, who _educated_ you?”

The pirate made one more attempt. “I’ve never heard of that,” he said briskly, “And I think you’re full of shit.”

“Clearly,” Scanlan deadpanned. And, finally, he let go of Pike’s hands – she felt the absence immediately – and clenched his hands to fists to stop the shaking of his fingers. “But, well, we have an expert right here. Am I full of shit, Pike?”

Both men looked at her expectantly. “Um,” Pike stuttered, “Nope. Not at all.”

“There you go,” Scanlan said, clearly satisfied, “Cleric confirms it. Now could you please leave us alone? We were kind of in the middle of something, Chad.”

The pirate got halfway through a nod before he bristled. “Fuck you! I don’t take orders from you!”

Pike couldn’t blame his initial acquiescence. Scanlan had something undeniably authoritative about him right now. It was as unsettling as it was… natural.

“And what was she doing to you anyway?” the pirate pressed on.

Scanlan narrowed his eyes at him. “I have arthritis, which means, and I’m sure this will _delight_ you, Chad, that I am constantly in excruciating pain. Now would you leave a man to his pain in peace? There’s nothing you can do to me that’s worse than this.”

That made the pirate laugh, a cruel, hearty sound that sent a chill down Pike’s spine. Chad laughed as he turned his back on them. He laughed as he got back to the ship’s deck. She had the distinct feeling that by the time he saw the sea again, he would have forgotten about the glyph altogether.

As soon as he was gone, Scanlan sagged. Pike could only look at him, _speechless,_ because how the hell had he done that?

Scanlan didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look at her.

“Wow,” she said eventually. It took her a moment to find more words than that. “That was… pretty incredible.”

Scanlan glanced up at her through his long hair and sent her a lop-sided smile. “Thanks.”

“I can’t believe he bought that.”

Scanlan shrugged.

“You were really believable.”

“What can I say? I’m a decent liar. And a storyteller.”

It was the word ‘liar’ that made her aware of the seed of discomfort in her chest area.

“I’m… actually not sure how I feel about that,” she said with a frown. She wasn’t upset with him, of course. It was just… He convinced that pirate of an absolute lie within _seconds_ , and with seemingly no effort at all. It was disconcerting.

He was far more than a decent liar.

Scanlan flexed his fingers. When he spoke, his voice was aiming for nonchalance, but it carried a little bit of tension with it that she didn’t recognise. “I told you that you’d change your mind about me.”

Pike sat down on top of their meagre blanket.

Scanlan glanced at her, and he could tell that she was considering what had just happened, and what it might mean.

They were quiet for two very uncomfortable minutes. Then Pike asked: “Have you lied to me?”

So he gave her the answer she deserved. “Yes.”

He couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to see what her expression looked like now.

“Did you lie about your mother?”

This time, he looked at her before he even thought about it, surprised. “My mother?”

She was inspecting him very carefully. He knew she had a penchant for guessing people’s thoughts, so he figured that was what she was attempting here.

“No,” he said, “I didn’t.”

Pike nodded solemnly, and he could see the tension leave her shoulders. That was that, it seemed.

“You’re…”

He hesitated long enough for Pike to glance up at him and arch an eyebrow. He was _really_ glad she couldn’t see him blush.

“Are we good?”

She smiled at him, her expression softening at his worry.

“Of course, Scanlan. Everyone deserves a few secrets. As long a you didn’t lie about the important stuff.”

He felt guilty, and then he felt relieved, and then he felt guilty for feeling relieved.

Well, if there was still any question as to whether he deserved her, this definitely answered it.

Pike stretched out her hands towards him. “Come here, now. I wasn’t done with your hands.”

Scanlan walked over to her, feeling almost shy, and placed his hands back in hers. This was his favourite place to be. And he was a selfish man.

“Thanks,” he told her softly, looking at their clasped hands, and it was for more than just the healing.

Pike looked at him as though she knew, and gently squeezed his hands with hers. “You’re welcome.”

There was a part of him that wanted to stay here, locked in this brig with her. He would take the gross food. He’d take the insults and even the debilitating magic he was using. Anything to keep her a little longer.

There was another part of him, far smaller, that had the tiniest bit of hope that leaving this ship did not have to be the end.

But the larger part of him was bracing himself for the inevitable collision with reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't you just hate it when a pirate rolls a natural 20 on stealth? 
> 
> I hope you guys liked this! Next up: Scanlan finishes the glyph...


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I lied: two more chapters. I was writing chapter five and realised I still had way too much to say. I've almost finished chapter 6, so expect that next week. I hope you enjoy!

The morning after Chad had almost caught them, Scanlan woke up with a bitter taste in his mouth that made him nauseous. He knew that there was nothing wrong with him physically. It wasn’t the gross food, or the magic.

He woke up hearing Pike’s voice in his head, saying that it was okay to keep secrets, _as long as he didn’t lie about the important stuff._

He had to tell her.

He had to tell her _something_. She had to know that she was putting her faith in a liar. She deserved to know that, once he finished this glyph, no one was going to suddenly obey their every command. Nothing would change.

He had no way of explaining that to her without plunging her into disappointment and fear. Or telling her the truth. But, if he did, she could turn on him as fast as lightning – he couldn’t risk that.

_The important things._ This was clearly important. This was probably the most important thing of all. If she found out he had been lying about it for weeks, then begging her to understand that he had been scared of her reaction just wouldn’t cut it. She wouldn’t. She might not let him finish it.

And if he didn’t finish it, all of their hope was lost.

But he _had_ to tell her.

The next few days were nothing but hard work and emotional turmoil for Scanlan. He turned all of his thoughts inward. He became even quieter. Distant. His mind was running a thousand miles an hour. He had to tell her. He couldn’t tell her.

How could he ask her to trust him if, apparently, he didn’t trust _her_?

But they were different kinds of trust, and Pike seemed to understand him better than he understood himself, so what if she could understand this too? What if she could forgive him?

He was all questions, no answers, undercut by the waves of exhaustion that casting the glyph threw at him every single day. He could hardly look her in the eye anymore.

Pike noticed that, after their run-in with Chad, Scanlan was more on edge than before. He worked himself a little harder than he had before, casting to the point of absolute exhaustion. Pike would try to stop him, but he refused to, and she had to hold him up while he finished _just one more tracing, one more, he was almost there, he’d take a break afterwards._ He was racing to finish the glyph now, even though neither of them was sure about why exactly. In the end, it took him only three more days instead of four.

He finished the glyph on the thirteenth day. It was late – darkness had fallen. Scanlan was determined to finish that night. He didn’t want to put off the last tracing of the glyph for the next day. He was very vague about why, and although Pike was sure it had something to do with the fact that he was absolutely _done_ with this shit, she did think there was more to it. That last day, there was something different about him. She could see that he was struggling with something. Sometimes he would almost miss a note and she thought it was because… well, he seemed _distracted_. It’s why she kept telling him to take the rest of the day off. He could finish the glyph with a fresh mind. It would do them no good if he messed it up on the last day just because he was eager to finish it.

But Scanlan was stubborn, and he kept playing his flute while his thoughts were clearly all over the place.

Pike felt herself get more and more tense as he came closer to the last tracing. She could tell that he was getting there by the orchestra that welled up every time he finished one. The music seemed to swell and there was an undeniable _taste_ of magic in the stale air. She could feel it on her skin. Her own magic was trying to respond to it, she thought, but she kept everything inside and focused on collecting all of her energy to dunk all of her healing onto Scanlan when he finally finished.

She started biting her thumb, and she had to constantly remind herself to stay alert and look at the entrance to the brig once in a while to make sure no one walked in and ruined everything.

She forgot about all of that when Scanlan started the final tracing. Anticipation made the air heavy and her heart skipped a beat when Scanlan took his mouth off his flute and she realised that the music _kept going_. She was holding him up again, her face close to his, lips parted and eyes wide in awe of the feat he was performing right here from the cradle of her arms. Scanlan seemed daze and disoriented, and his gaze kept going out of focus, but he turned to her and levelled her with a look that she could feel in every part of herself.

“Pike,” he pushed out, his voice hoarse and small.

“What are you doing?” She straightened Scanlan in her arms as he slumped a little further. “Come on, just finish it.”

“I have to…”

“You can tell me once you’re finished, Scanlan.” Her voice had a pleading quality to it. She wasn’t sure how long he could keep this intentional suspense of the casting up. He felt so brittle – like he was about to break.

“No,” he gasped, “I have to… Pike, I lied. I lied about what it does. It doesn’t charm people.”

This time, it felt like her heart outright stopped. “What?”

Maybe it was the shock. Maybe he could taste it, the way she tasted his magic. She felt like she was drunk on it. She felt as out of it as Scanlan looked. She wasn’t sure what he was saying.

But whatever it was, he looked at her, and his eyes suddenly seemed clear and sharp. All of his attention was on her, and perhaps there was a spark of determination in him, because she could hear the music swell even further, as though something inside of him was giving it extra fuel.

“I need to know if you can trust me,” he said, and this time it sounded like _he_ was begging.

There was so much to that question that she had no way to respond to. Part of her was angry at him for springing this on her in such a pivotal moment, while he was clearly about to pass out on her. But another part of her recognised the fear in his eyes and suddenly she realised that he had been trying to tell her this all day.

But she had to answer his question. And the answer was clear.

She brought her face closer to his and closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against his in a gesture that seemed infinitely intimate. She hoped she could make him understand.

“I trust you,” she said, and tried to put all of her remaining spirit into those three words.

She had no way of telling what Scanlan looked like or what he was feeling in that moment. She kept her eyes closed as she felt him pull away, and then the flute music started again.

She held him up in her arms, trying to keep her mind from going over all of the questions that were rising up in her thoughts and keep her focus solely on Scanlan. She had to lend him all the strength she had right now.

She was terrified that finishing the glyph might kill him.

She couldn’t let that happen. So, she poured everything she had into him, no spells, no words, no tricks or techniques, just the raw force of magic that was born from a creature’s soul.

The music swelled. Scanlan stopped playing.

Pike opened her eyes as the glyph started glowing. The music kept going as Scanlan slumped again in her arms. He was breathing hard and the flute fell from his hand, dropping onto the wooden floors. Pike forced herself to cast her eyes towards the entrance to the brig, dragging her gaze away from the sight of the glyph coming to completion. She could feel the magic rushing out of it, like wave upon wave of an endless well. She had no idea what the magic was doing. But she trusted it.

Then, suddenly, it stopped. All was quiet. Scanlan was unconscious in her arms, and there was a burn mark on the floor of the pirate ship she had been locked up in for over a month.

Pike dropped herself onto the floor. She forced herself to put Scanlan down and pull the blanket back over the glyph. It seemed almost useless now. The presence of the glyph was tangible, even when she couldn’t see it. But that didn’t mean hiding it wasn’t still a good idea.

She put Scanlan to bed. She sat next to him on the blankets and stared at him. She frowned. She took hold of her holy symbol.

And she planned.

Scanlan thought that, if he hadn’t been passed out from sheer magical exhaustion, he would have noticed the moment that Pike cast a spell on him. Perhaps it would have woken him up, or it might have shown up in a dream. But, as it was, he was miles deep in a dreamless type of sleep, and it wasn’t until he woke up that he noticed the familiar, uncomfortable tightening of his gut at the feeling of foreign magic in his body that wasn’t meant to heal him.

He kept still for a moment, and wondered what she’d done to him.

Whatever it was, he was sure he deserved it.

Pike was still with him on their blanket, wrapped around him like a koala on his back. Her breathing was soft and quiet, and for a moment he thought she might be asleep. But when he shifted so he could check, her breath caught and she released her hold on him a little so she could turn him in her arms – she felt even stronger now that he was so weak and it was still sexy – and look at him.

They were quiet for a moment, laying close to each other with the ship swaying gently and the unmistakable heat of the glyph underneath them. It reminded him of the moment right before he passed out, when Pike had pressed her forehead to his and told him she trusted him.

A wave of emotion overwhelmed him momentarily. He had asked her to trust him, and she had. Even if she were to go back on that decision now, he had still gotten that moment. That meant a lot.

Pike’s eyes were still gentle. He realised suddenly how afraid he had been of the look in her eyes changing after he told her the truth about the glyph. Something in him had been able to imagine exactly what her eyes would look like when her gaze hardened and the gates to her heart slammed shut.

But here she was, still endlessly kind and open.

He was sure he didn’t deserve to be held by this kind of creature. Not after the kind of life he had lived. But sometimes life just gives you a certain hand, and he was not the sort of man to spurn any such luck.

Carefully, he inched his face a little closer so he could press his forehead back against hers. She had to know he had noticed the magic, and this was the only way he knew to _really_ let her know what he was thinking:

_You trusted me. Now I trust you._

“I cast _Zone Of Truth_ on the room,” Pike whispered.

He hadn’t heard of that spell before, but the name told him all he had to know.

He managed half a smile. “No more lies, huh?”

“No more lies,” she breathed. Then she took a deep breath and launched into a speech that he was sure was prepared.

“I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. You can decide whether or not to answer them. The magic forces honesty, but not speech. I want some answers. But you can decide which ones.”

Scanlan nodded and looked at her expectantly.

“What does the glyph do, Scanlan?”

That was fair.

“It’s a magical beacon,” he said, “It’s meant to override the cloaking mechanism this ship uses.”

“We’re cloaked?”

“Very. The device they use is very advanced. They were smart enough to use a part of their winnings to strengthen their ship. It’s what has made them so hard to catch for the authorities.”

“And the glyph negates that magic?”

“Not exactly. Like I said, it overrides it. When I finished the glyph, it sent out a wave of magic that was more powerful than the cloaking device. It was only momentary, but that magic went looking for a tuning fork that I had linked with it beforehand and the two resonated with each other.”

Pike thought about that for a moment. He could see that she was trying to make sense of what all of this meant.

“Who has the tuning fork?”

“A group of friends of mine.”

“The ones you talked about before? Your siblings?”

“Yes.”

“So they know where we are now?”

“Yes. And they are on their way.”

She frowned at him. “Why didn’t you just tell me? Whether the glyph charmed these guys or alerted a rescue team, the outcome is the same for us. It’s just another way to get us out, right?”

He tried to figure out a way to answer her truthfully without giving too much away, but before he could, Pike had another realization.

“Did you attune this tuning fork beforehand just in case this happened? Why would you think you were going to get kidnapped by these guys? They don’t know what you look like, so there’s clearly no benefit to kidnapping _you_ specifically.”

“They might beg to differ.”

“Why?” she asked him bluntly, “What’s so special about you if it isn’t your fake money?”

The answer got stuck in his throat.

_I trust her_ , he thought.

_No, I can’t_ , he thought, _not always. Not all the time. Not yet._

He had never really considered that he might have trust issues. Yet here they were, clear as day.

_I don’t want you to run from me,_ he thought, _not yet. Not when we’re stuck in a room together for at least another day_.

Path of least resistance, then. For him, at least. Wait to tell her until they were about to get out, so that, if she responded badly, he wouldn’t have to face her. Pray for her to respond positively instead.

“Okay,” Pike said when he didn’t respond, “Different question. How did you even know about the cloaking mechanism?”

“They bragged about it.”

Pike blinked. “To you?”

“Amongst other people.”

“Why would they brag to _you_ about their…” Her voice trailed off.

She frowned, and he knew that a bigger question was coming.

“Scanlan?”

“Yeah?”

“How well do you know these pirates?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Pretty well.”

“Is that why you’re disguised?”

“Yes.”

She shivered and her voice lowered to a whisper. “What would they do to you if they knew who you were?”

Scanlan’s expression hardened. “Kill me and tie me to their figurehead as a trophy, I’m guessing.”

“Scanlan?” Pike whispered, “Why are you here?”

Scanlan took a deep breath. He focused his gaze on Pike, so close to him, so vulnerable, asking questions she didn’t exactly want the answers to. She was so much braver than he was. He was constantly in awe of her.

_Gods,_ _he wished he could keep her with him_.

“I am here to disable the only advantage these fuckers have,” he told her, “And lead them to the slaughter.”

Pike swallowed. For a moment, he wondered if he should have put that more kindly. Perhaps he shouldn’t have used the word _slaughter_.

But when she spoke again, he realised that she wasn’t upset about the violence. Not _that_ violence, at least.

“And me?” she asked, “Why am I here?”

“What?”

“Did you arrange the attack on The Broken Howl?”

His eyes widened, and for the first time since he woke up, he was _sincerely_ thankful for the magic she had cast on them.

“ _No_ ,” he said emphatically, and he knew she had to believe him, “No, I did not. I had no idea you were going to be here. I did not _expect_ you to be here.”

“But then…” She looked relieved, of course, but also confused. “How on earth were you planning on surviving that spell? I mean, no offense, Scanlan, but I am at least seventy percent of the reason why you’re still alive after that.”

“Have I thanked you for that yet?”

“No.”

“Well, I’m very grateful.”

“Scanlan, if you didn’t plant a healer here, then what was the plan?”

He sighed. “There wasn’t a plan. I misjudged the spell. I would have just… I don’t know, I would have had to push through on sheer willpower, I guess.”

“On _willpower_?”

“I’ve done it before,” he said defensively, “I have a _lot_ of gusto inside this rocking bod.”

“You’ve had to do that before?” Pike whispered and, _oh shit, he hadn’t meant to make her look at him like that_ , with a little bit of sympathy and a whole lot of horror at what he had suffered through.  

He touched his nose to hers for a moment. “I told you,” he said softly, “Gusto.”

Pike had a weird look in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place. She shifted so she could pull up her arms and put his hands on his face.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

He smiled at that, happy that he could admit to having done something right. “My name is Scanlan Shorthalt.”

She looked surprised that he had given her his real name. And he had been too, at the time, so that seemed only fair.

“I didn’t expect that,” she said with a frown.

He shrugged and let it rest. There wasn’t much he could say on the topic, he felt.

Pike frowned a little longer and let out a deep sigh. The fact that he could taste it on his tongue sent an electric charge through his body that made the hairs on his arms stand up. She was so close.

“I meant what I said,” she told him finally, “I do trust you. Call me crazy, but I do. I don’t think you’re a bad person. And these pirates clearly are. So if you’re here to take them down, I’ll help you do it. And… Well, we’ll see about the rest later.”

She sent him a stern look. “I don’t like liars. I’ve had some bad experience with them. But it looks like your goals aren’t so bad. So… don’t lie anymore. You don’t have to tell me anything. But… just don’t lie.”

He nodded slowly. “I will not lie to you again.”

Her gaze softened. “Thank you.”

They laid on their blanket for a moment, smiling at each other. It seemed like they reached some sort of truce. He didn’t dare to hope for anything more than that.

“Now take a nap,” Pike said, and she rolled him onto his back.

He groaned and reached out his hand to grab one of hers. “Yes. Please. I could sleep for a week probably.”

“Will you?”

“If you let me? Maybe. So just wake me up tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“Okay.”

She laid down beside him, their backs on the wood that held the remnants of two weeks of enchantment, and stared up at the ceiling with him. She felt a little like she had when she was a kid, laying on the grass and looking up at the clouds.

“I’m getting you out of here, Pikey,” Scanlan said softly.

Pike shook her head in disbelief at his unwavering determination. He had just finished the casting of an insane spell that could have easily killed him, and here he was ready to take on an entire ship full of pirates within hours after he got knocked down. She had to admit that she really liked that about him.

She lifted up their entwined hands and brought them to her lips, kissing the palm of his for a moment before bringing them back down. “Hush. You need to rest, or you’ll be of no use to me tomorrow. And you know I’d carry your unconscious ‘bod’ on my back if I had to, but I can’t promise that you won’t receive some damage in the process.”

“Duly noted.”

His voice was already trailing off, but she could hear the smile in it, and she was content. Scanlan started idly rubbing circles into the back of her hand for a moment, before that slowly trailed off as well and she could feel his breathing deepen as he fell back into his slumber.

Pike grabbed her holy symbol with her free hand and got to work.

Through their clasped hands, she poured healing spell after healing spell into him, restoration spells, strengthening spells, anything she could think of, until she was spent.

When she finally was, she noticed that there was a small light in the room with them. She looked down at her hand and saw that her holy symbol had started emanating a radiant glow.

It was the most beautiful and most hope-giving thing that she had seen on this ship since the arrival of Scanlan Shorthalt.

And she knew, instantly, that she had been absolutely right: Sarenrae approved. This was where she was meant to be. And Scanlan, no matter what he might think of himself, was deserving of Sarenrae’s help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy getting to describe their magic. I hope you guys liked it! Let me know your thoughts!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the finale has arrived! Warning: the spells in this chapter are, in the immortal words of Matthew Mercer, "loosey-goosey." I'm here to have fun and tell a story, and the rules of D&D sort of got lost in the momentum. Oops! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! I'm super proud of having finished my first multi-chapter fic, after having started at least 20 and never finishing any of them!

The next day was the weirdest day they’d had yet. They had nothing to work on anymore except prepping for the upcoming fight, and it left them both a little awkward and a little restless. From the look on Pike’s face, sometimes, Scanlan guessed that she had a lot more questions, but for some reason she wasn’t asking any of them. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to waste another spell on making him tell the truth on a day where she would probably need to be at full power, and she didn’t trust him to answer truthfully without it. That thought was a little disappointing, but it could be the case.

They spent the larger part of the day trying to prepare to the best of their abilities. Pike put on the pieces of her armour she had put aside for comfort and spent a good long while praying over her holy symbol. Scanlan tried to see if the amulet responded to her in any way, but if it did, he couldn’t pick up on it. There was nothing visual, at least.

He, thankfully, felt a lot better than the day before. A night’s rest had done him good, and although he realised that he wasn’t exactly at full physical strength yet, the magic inside of him was humming contently and he knew that he would have no problem with throwing out some bolts of lightning.

They grew tenser as time passed, because they knew that the moment of truth had to be getting closer. Particularly Scanlan, who knew the rate at which his friends must be approaching them, had a fair estimation of how long it would take before they arrived, and the anticipation that was constantly rising within him seemed to be picked up on by Pike.

They smiled nervously at each other a couple of times, and Scanlan found himself pre-emptively mourning the time they had spent locked up in this brig together. there was nothing he wanted more than to sleep in his own bed, but the thought that that might cost him Pike made him flinch. He had gotten irrationally attached to her in the past two weeks. And, no, that wasn’t just because she was basically his dream woman. Well, maybe it was.

She was his dream woman, okay? He was only human. How could he _not_ get super attached to her?

So, for whatever time they had left, he revelled in the feeling of being in the same boat together. They looked at each other like they shared a secret, and they _did_ , and he loved it. He wanted to share all of his secrets with her. He wanted, for the moment, to pretend that he did.

It was about mid-afternoon when something in the air changed. They started hearing mumbling from above deck, and then running, and shouting. The voices grew more panicked the more they picked up, and Scanlan knew instinctually that the pirates above deck must be watching his friends approach at the incredible speed that Keyleth could create when blowing air into a ship’s sails.

The pirate’s rising panic delighted him, and he felt a grin take over his expression. The time for mourning was over. Only excitement at the upcoming confrontation remained.

He looked at Pike, who took a cue from his obvious amusement and smiled back at him in anticipation.

“Almost there?” she whispered, as though she could ruin it by speaking up.

“Oh, yes,” Scanlan grinned.

Right at that moment, he could hear a soft, metallic voice, that grew louder and clearer as the seconds past.

“Scanlan? Are we in range?”

He lifted his hand to his ear and touched it to his earring. “I hear ya, Kiki.”

“Scanlan!” He could hear the obvious relief in Keyleth’s voice at hearing him, “Oh my gods, it’s so good to hear your voice. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Good job finding us. I’m in the ship’s brig with another prisoner. I could break through the lock, but I’d like to keep some element of surprise and jump them from below as well as above. Can you send in Vax?”

Pike was staring at him, a little slack-jawed, and visibly getting more excited.

“I’ll polymorph him and bring him to you,” Keyleth told him. He could hear the smile in her voice. “We’re about half a minute out. I just stopped the extra wind, so we should be slowing down enough not to pass them by. Did you say something about an extra prisoner?”

“Excellent. And yes. She’s with us. Bring her a weapon.” He glanced at Pike and smiled at her. “Any preference, Pike?”

“Do you have a maul?”

Scanlan touched his earring again. “Bring the Brawlers maul.”

Pike looked at him like he had just offered her a pile of gold.

“Done,” Keyleth said, “I’ll see you in half a minute. And, Scanlan? I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“See you soon, Kiki,” he smiled, and broke the connection.

Pike was inspecting him with a hint of suspicion, but she couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “Did you say the Brawlers?”

“Yup.”

“The notorious pirates who claim they’re all descended from dragons?”

“They’re full of shit. But yes.”

Pike shook her head in disbelief and laughed a little. “Why do you have their maul?”

Scanlan grinned and, emboldened, reached out to take her hand and bring it up to his mouth so he could kiss it. “They didn’t deserve it. That’s why we’re getting it a new wielder.”

Pike giggled and his very favourite blush rose to her perfect round cheeks.

His heart felt like it might burst. This was the best day of his life.

“Are you ready?” he asked her, “Things are about to get crazy.”

She sent him a dramatically scandalised look. “Scanlan. Who are you talking to?”

“Someone who’s about to kick some pirate ass?”

“Someone who’s about to _obliterate_ some pirate ass.”

He hummed appreciatively. “I’d like a front row seat to that.”

She grinned. “First come first served.”

At that moment, there was a flutter of movement in the brig, and they looked up to see a small robin making its way towards them, flapping its wings enthusiastically. As it approached the bars to their cell, it started glowing, and, like a flower unfurling its petals, shifted into a tall, red-haired woman holding a staff. There was a maul hanging from a belt around her hips. She had a huge, happy smile on her face, and Pike liked her instantly.

“You’re still looking like that, huh?” she said to Scanlan, clearly happy to see him, even in his disguised form.

“You know I love a good costume.”

“Touché.” The woman’s gaze drifted to the gnome beside him and curiously looked over Pike – her full plate armour, white hair, the scar that ran across her left eye.

“Kiki?” Scanlan said, “The Vax, please?”

“Oh! Sorry!” She reached up and pulled a tiny spider from her messy red hair, putting it onto the ground beside her and dropping the spell she had put on it.

Another shift took place, this one reminding Pike more of an egg shell breaking to reveal a creature within. She blinked, and there was another person in the brig with them. This one had long, dark hair and a wicked grin on his face. He pulled out some thieves’ tools from his pockets and twirled them between his fingers. “Captain,” he said.

Scanlan didn’t dare to glance at Pike with that word hanging in the air.

She _definitely_ heard that.

Above them, the fight had broken loose, and they heard shouts as well as small explosions and the unmistakable splash of someone hitting the water beside the ship.

Vax got to work immediately and within seconds he had picked the lock, swinging open the door to the cell, allowing Scanlan and Pike to rush out. Neither of them looked back before the four of them started rushing up the stairs. But, as they did, Pike reached for Scanlan’s hand and took it.

Something inside of him caught fire.

_This was the happiest day of his life._

The hatch to the brig was slightly ajar and Vax learned over to gently lift it a little further and peek out. The sounds of the battle grew even louder, and Pike could feel the familiar adrenaline rushing through her veins at the proximity of a good fight. Gods, she wished Grog was here.

Vax motioned that they had to keep quiet for another moment as he reached into his belt and pulled out a mean-looking dagger. While he did, Keyleth removed the maul from her belt and quietly handed it to Pike with a smile. Pike returned her smile with as much warmth as she could muster and weighted the weapon in her hand. Then, she brought it up with her as she touched her holy symbol and sent a quick prayer to Sarenrae to help her face this.

Before she even finished, Vax flicked a dagger into the fray, and then two more. Pike couldn’t distinguish the cries of pain from each other, but the grin on the rogue’s face told her that he had definitely hit his target.

“Let’s go!” he said, and pushed open the hatch.

They rushed onto the ship’s deck and, immediately, Pike was a little disoriented. Everywhere around her people were running and shouting. There was the sound of metal upon metal and spells being flung around, recognisable, familiar sounds, but there were others sounds too, and she followed them to their sources. Her eyes widened at the things she saw.

There was a woman on a flying broom, racing over the fray, with an enormous longbow in her hands and a grin on her face that immediately identified her as Vax’s sibling. She shouted something down and Pike followed her gaze to an actual living grizzly bear that was running across the deck and mauling pirates left and right. Vax jumped into the battle as well, sneaking behind barrels and dodging opponents before pushing daggers into their flesh, his eyes flashing darkly as he released poison and fire into their bloodstream. Near the ship’s helm stood a tall human with a shock of white hair and a strange mechanical contraption in his hand. He looked impeccable in his blue coat as he pulled the trigger on the thing and shot fast-moving projectiles across the deck, incapacitating people left and right.

Pike and Scanlan looked at each other, identical grins on their faces. Scanlan wiggled his eyebrows and squeezed her hand. And, for the first time in weeks, Pike threw her head back and let out a good spell of laughter. With that, they let go of each other.

Pike gripped her maul and finished the prayer to Sarenrae that had been cut off earlier. With that, she spoke the divine words that had protected her so many times before, and sent out a spike of radiant energy, making good on the promise she had made herself so many weeks ago and getting a good ol’ _Guiding Bolt_ right up a pirate’s butt.

Scanlan sauntered forward to get a better vantage point and sent his first _Lightning Bolt_ towards the piece of shit who had ordered his capture two weeks ago. He didn’t hit on the first one, but immediately let out another, and this one hit home. The captain twitched and straightened out as the electrical charge rushed through his body, some of it sparking off his rapier.

Scanlan laughed heartily at the sight and kept approaching, ignoring the rest of the fighting crew on the ship. One or two of them attempted to hit him, but both missed and he stepped out of the way deftly. Before long he had the captain’s attention, and he could see the confusion take over his expression as he looked at the meek, scruffy halfling with a most uncharacteristic grin on his face. Scanlan _oozed_ confidence, and he _felt_ suave. He felt in his element.

He _was_ in his element: he was about to drop a bomb of drama on this poor soul.

“You are _not_ having a good day,” he said gleefully.

The captain actually let his rapier lower for a moment, staring at this tiny creature slack-jawed. Then something seemed to click, and although Scanlan was sure that he couldn’t see _through_ his illusion, exactly, it was clear that the pirate now knew there _was_ one.

“Who the fuck are you?” the captain barked, clinging on to his dignity and bringing up his rapier again. He tried to look imposing, but Scanlan wasn’t having any of it.

“Who am I?” he repeated, happy with the set-up. He could feel the eyes of others on him, friends as well as enemies. He was sure that one pair was Pike’s. He finally got to show her where his biggest strength lay.

Theatrics.

“Well, I have many names,” he continued smoothly. “The Meat Man. Burt Reynolds. Kingslayer. Francois Bertrand Jean-Luc Australia. But you, my friend, probably know me as Aes Adon.”

The pirate looked as though he was watching a guillotine being raised with every name that Scanlan uttered. He grinned at him, ready to drop it and chop off his head.

“And _this,_ ” he continued, spreading his arms to gesture towards the crew that was quickly overpowering the ship, “Is _Vox Machina_.”

With that, he dropped his illusion, watching as the full realisation of who they were dealing with washed over his rival’s features.

“Vex’ahlia!” Scanlan shouted, and immediately he was approached by the half-elven ranger, who reached for something hanging from her belt and dropped a dark brown tricorne into his hands, adorned with purple feathers and the odd dragon-scale or two. He drew it onto his head, and felt as though he had undergone a transformation that ran far deeper than just dropping an illusion.

Now, he was a force to be reckoned with. Now, he was Aes Adon. Captain of _Vox Machina_.

The rival captain’s shock morphed into rage within seconds, and Scanlan steadied himself to prepare for his oncoming attack. His rival roared and came at him, the tip of his rapier aimed at his gut, but Scanlan stepped away just in time and the blade merely nicked his side. The joys of being a gnome.

He brought up his own hands and traced an arcane sigil in the air while muttering a few words. Immediately, a huge, spectral hand appeared and lifted him up above the deck, out of the reach of the pirate captain’s rapier. He swung it at him one more time, but only caught the hand’s form, which didn’t falter on its way up.

Scanlan couldn’t keep the grin from his face and he quickly surveyed the battlefield, unwilling to admit that he was looking for Pike until he found her in the crowd.

She was staving off an enemy with maul and then turned to look at him up in the air. Her eyes were wide and bright blue.

Pike just stared up at the fixture in front of her, who both was and was not the person she had spent two weeks locked up in a cell with. He looked so comfortable like this, with the grin on his face, wearing his real visage proudly, the ridiculously ostentatious hat on his head.

Everything fell into place.

“Pirate-robbing pirate,” Pike stammered, and everything made _sense_ now. Why he had targeted these pirates. Their conversation on piracy. His unease with letting her know who he was. The vagueness which had cloaked his true intentions. Even the rough way of speaking that sometimes overpowered his more charming lilt.

He was a pirate. Of course he was. He was a pirate _captain_.

He was Aes Adon.

She had little to no information on _Vox Machina_ , except that they hit who they could hit and were impossible to track. Looking over the crew that he had brought with him, Pike could definitely see how they were an unconventional lot. A bear at sea, for example, was not exactly something she would have expected.

But they looked powerful. And she was glad to be on their side.

She grinned at Scanlan, finally unbound, having thrown off the limits he had put on himself and showing his bardic prowess in all its glory. Purple looked good on him.

They gazed at each other in the midst of the battle, and then, smoothly, Pike lifted up her maul and pointed it at him. “You and I need to talk!”

“Now?!” he yelled back, but he was still grinning, and seemed pleased with her response.

“After!”

With that, she threw herself back into the fight, her adrenaline fuelled by her excitement at finally knowing who exactly she was dealing with. She had no time to consider anything but how neatly her image of Scanlan fit into that of Aes Adon. Vaguely, she registered that someone was laughing loudly, having heard their exchange. She glanced to the side to see the source and found the rogue with the daggers, Vax, laughing and shaking his head. He caught her gaze and winked at her, before somehow disappearing into some of the shadows cast over the ship by the midday sun.

After that, the fight was over quickly. Pike got some good _Guiding Bolts_ in, one of them scorching the bastard captain who had overpowered her own crew so violently over a month before. It felt good to pay him back, although she knew that there was nothing she could do to him that would somehow make up for the lives he had taken that day.

She loved the feel of the maul she had been given, swinging it left and right whenever she felt like, before reaching for her holy symbol again to communicate Sarenrae’s wrath.

Before long, most of the enemy pirates were crawling, and then the last one fell to one of the fast projectiles that the white-haired human was shooting into the crowd. Pike looked up at him as the battlefield quieted down. Somewhere behind her, Scanlan was walking up to the enemy captain as Vex’ahlia was binding him tightly with rope. Vax offered him one of his daggers, and Scanlan took it as he approached his fallen enemy.

But Pike’s eyes stayed on the gunslinger. There was dark smoke coming from the barrel of his weapon, and he hadn’t lowered it yet. There was something hard and dark about his eyes, and, for a moment, she could swear that she saw some of his weapon’s smoke coalesce and drift down his arm. She knew, instantly, that something was wrong with him, and shivered at the sight.

Then he put down his weapon and the darkness faded. He was just a man.

Suspicious, but satisfied for the moment, Pike turned away from him and looked at where Scanlan stood in front of the bound captain.

He tapped the ropes with Vax’s dagger. “There we go. Neat little packages for Emon’s Crown. I’m sure they’ll be _delighted_ to see you.”

The pirate captain spat at him, but Scanlan’s hand sneaked up to slap him just before he did, and his spit landed on the deck beside his comrades’ blood.

Scanlan looked at Vex’ahlia. “Maybe gag him?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she answered, and reached over to do just that.

Once the pirate captain was silenced, Scanlan looked him over again. “You have made many mistakes in your life, Harold,” he said, “And kidnapping me was far from the worst of them. I hope others may learn from your mistakes. It becomes rather dull to have nothing but enemies who fall for every trap I lay for them.”

The twins chuckled.

“Let it be known,” Scanlan smiled, “That today, once again, _Vox Machina_ triumphed.”

His crew cheered, and he grinned, and everything was wonderful. There was nothing like the adrenaline rush that he got from a good fight. He felt ecstatic.

As soon as the end of the battle had been officially proclaimed, he was hounded by his crew about all sorts of things. The cook wanted to know whether he should use the special meat for tonight, Keyleth offered to do a _Heroes Feast_ for the occasion, Percy chimed in to say that he had had a thought and wanted some extra materials to work on something, Vax was cajoling him, the younger crew members were congratulating him on the great mission, and Vex was still poking Harold with a stick behind him, resulting in some fairly interesting noises from the bound-up captain.

By the time things had settled down a little again, he had momentarily lost track of Pike. He’d meant to, of course – he couldn’t seem like he was paying anyone special attention.

He had grown up in an environment where it was very dangerous to let people know that you cared about something, and that education still pushed to the surface sometimes. He knew that he could trust his people. But still.

He really _did_ have trust issues, did he? Wow…

Right as he had that realisation, his gaze locked in on Pike, who was tending to some of the wounded. Their usual healers were with her, helping both magically and mostly non-magically, but Pike was dead in the centre of it all. It looked like people had just flocked towards her, and Scanlan wondered whether that happened to her any place she went.

She was bandaging one of the deck mates and muttered a short incantation that seemed to help with sealing up his wounds. Then she turned around and put a hand on one of the unconscious members of the crew, and hesitated. Scanlan watched as Pike looked up again with a frown and looked around for a moment, inspecting the small crowd that had gathered around her. She steadied herself for a moment and reached for her holy symbol and then let out a shockwave of radiant energy that started to stitch up the wounds of various of the people around her. The crew was clearly in awe of her. As they should be. She was incredible.

Vax’s hand fell on his shoulder with a smack and he was shaken out of his thoughts. He looked up at his friend to find the familiar, shit-eating grin on his face.

Scanlan sighed, but couldn’t keep a smile from his face. “Whatcha got, Vax?”

“It really isn’t much about what _I’ve_ got,” Vax grinned, “As much as it is about what _you’ve_ got, my friend. Of course, I’m referring to the exquisite companion you’ve somehow managed to pick up.”

“Yeah, Scanlan,” Vex said as she joined them, “Where did _she_ come from? She looks adorable.”

“She’s a badass,” Vax corrected her immediately.

“Those aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“Not in her, they aren’t,” Scanlan affirmed. He looked back over to where Pike was helping his crew. “What can I say? She was just a very lovely surprise that I found down here.”

There was something about the quiet after he said that that didn’t sit right with him. There were so many things he wanted to say about Pike, and he was horrible at keeping all of it inside.

“She honestly saved me,” he finally admitted, “She kept me up and running while we were stuck in that ship. She really took care of me, in a multitude of ways. It was… honestly a gift.”

If he had said it in a tone that was any less sincere than this, he was sure that the twins would have jumped on him with a decent amount of provocative jokes about what exactly he had received from Pike in all of those weeks. But, as it stood now, Vax and Vex just looked at each other briefly, Vex raising one of her eyebrows, and that was that.

They took a moment, and then Vax squeezed Scanlan’s shoulder. “Well, then you should probably go talk to her, right?”

“Maybe.”

“Scanlan,” Vex said with a delighted gasp, “Are you nervous?”

Scanlan ignored her and turned to face them, running his fingers through his hair. “How do I look?”

“Ruggedly handsome,” Vax deadpanned.

“Very charming,” Vex agreed.

Well. He was willing to settle for that.

“Alright,” he said softly to himself, and then he was off.

By now, most of the people around Pike had stepped aside to tend to rest of their wounds on their own. Pike was still helping some of them with slings and bandages, but it seemed that she was tapped out when it came to her healing spells. That wasn’t surprising, of course, considering the shit she had pulled out of her figurative closet during that fight.

She was sitting on an upturned crate, the maul she had used resting beside her, blood and sweat gathered on her brow. The sun was starting to go down in earnest, and Scanlan got a perfect view of the way that the low light gave her hair a golden sheen. The sun was right behind her, and he had to squint a little, and, _by the gods, was she an actual angel? Had he lost blood? He was getting dizzy._

He absent-mindedly reached for the place where Harold had nicked him, and, sure enough, his vest was pretty moist with blood, although the flow seemed to have stopped already. He quickly muttered a _Healing_ Word to himself to help his body along.

Pike looked up at him now, and when she noticed him her mouth pulled up into a gorgeous smile that made his stomach do a twirly thing inside of his body.

She got up from the crate, her hands instinctively reaching for the maul again. That’s how she stood before him – covered in grime from the fight, a damaged maul in her hand, her holy symbol having that soothing glow across it that he had seen only once before, and a grin on her freckled face. Her hair was an absolute mess, which made him feel better about his own, and she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen in his life.

“So,” she said.

“So,” he parroted, feeling too much like an awkward teenager. He attempted to fix it by plastering a smile onto his face, but it couldn’t entirely conceal the nervousness he was feeling, standing before her in all of his infamous glory.

“Pirate-robbing pirate captain,” she observed.

“Amongst other things.”

He remembered the intimacy between them when he had last spoken those words in her _Zone Of Truth,_ and Pike seemed to remember too, because there was a spark in her eyes and just the _tiniest_ hint of that lovely blush rising to her cheeks. She didn’t look embarrassed as much as she looked to feel a little hot. That had to be a good sign, right?

She crossed her arms and started to slowly shake her head, but there was a smile on her face that made the entire thing look loving. “You’re something else, Scanlan Shorthalt.”

And that wasn’t rejection. That _absolutely_ wasn’t rejection.

_Fuck it,_ he thought, and decided to be bold.

“So, what do you say, Pikey?” He reached for her hand and took it, holding it up loosely with his own and looking down at it as though he were considering where to kiss it exactly. But then he glanced up at her through his eyelashes. “Ever wanted to be a pirate?”

Pike let out a burst of laughter at his ridiculousness, but the blush on her cheeks also deepened when she realised what exactly he was saying.

Oh shit. He was asking her to stick around. Wasn’t he?

“How so?” she asked, her voice quivering lightly, “Do you have an opening?”

“We could certainly use someone with your kind of magnificent mind,” he flirted.

Pike laughed again. “You’re laying it on thick. Scared I’ll run off to the enemy?”

Scanlan glanced at the other pirate captain from the corner of his eyes. “I don’t think he could woo you away from me, exactly.”

Pike smiled, but then tried to wrap her head around the idea properly. “I’ve never considered becoming a pirate before,” she muttered, and she looked over the ship’s deck to see what she would find there.

There were the twins, who were not even hiding that they were watching them and listening in on the entire conversation. They looked excited and pleased, and Pike figured they would have no objections to her joining the crew. Even the bear seemed to be anticipating something. Keyleth, who was helping people with her bandages as she had been, had a warm smile on her face, and Pike knew instinctively that she could really use a friend. The white-haired human wasn’t paying attention. He was meticulously cleaning his gun. She remembered the darkness that had so briefly overtaken him, and she knew, just as instinctively, that there was something she could do here. If Sarenrae allowed it, she could mean something to these people. She could help them.

She looked back at Scanlan in front of her, his impish grin, his flair, and felt the way his hand was trembling slightly underneath hers. She looked into his eyes and there was something there that she had never found before.

She could help him. She could help all of them. And, maybe, they could help her.

Pike took care to bring out her best pokerface. She pursed her lips as though she was thinking this offer over, and she dragged it out _just_ long enough, with a dramatic tension that she was sure Scanlan would be able to appreciate. He was still grinning at her, but she could see that there was something beneath the surface there. He really wanted her to stay.

Something inside of her soared.

“On one condition,” she said finally.

“Anything,” Scanlan told her eagerly, almost greedy for an opportunity to do something to sway her in his favour.

Oh yes. She could be something here.

Pike let her expression break open into a shit-eating grin that almost brought Scanlan right back to the beginning of the fight.

“We have to pick up Grog.”

It was Scanlan’s turn to soar, and he tightened his grip on Pike’s hand unintentionally. “ _Done_.”

Pike laughed, and that sound changed the course of everything, so Scanlan grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, sparking another burst of laughter from her perfect lips, and when he brought her down he kissed both of her cheeks and then her forehead. He lingered there for just a second, and hoped she was able to pick up on just how much this meant to him.

Then they looked at each other, faces close together, and just like the day before, Scanlan felt like she shared all of his secrets. And he wanted to share in all of hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed this fic and thank you to everyone who was there for the whole ride. Your comments and love really motivated and encouraged me! 
> 
> I am low-key playing with the idea to write a second arc inspired by the Briarwood arc, or maybe just adding a bunch of one-shots to explore the different Vox Machina relationships in this setting, so keep your eyes open for possible additions in the future, if you're interested!


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